I was excited when Jen from Ellison Lane Quilts asked me to share a new project to inspire some summer-time sewing. I've wanted to make a new bag for myself forever, and this was the perfect opportunity to try something new.
For this bag, I chose Anna's Go Anywhere Bag pattern. I recently given a charm pack of Lotta Jansdotter's new prints from her Bella collection by the nice people at Windham Fabrics. The colors screamed summer to me, so I decided to try piecing a portion of the bag using them coupled with a few other fabrics from the stash.
To make the pieced exterior pockets, I sewed the charm squares together to make a panel slightly larger than the pocket lining.
Then, to give the bag some extra weight and body, I quilted the pieced panels onto some lightweight batting. (I did not put a backing fabric behind the batting.) From there I cut out my front and back pocket pieces from the quilted panels and followed the rest of the pattern instructions.
For the body of my bag I used a heavier linen-type fabric I got a while ago at Ikea. (I would love to find some more of that.) The lining is from Denyse Schmidt's Aunt Edna collection at JoAnn. It was just the right chartreuse to go with the Bella collection. I added a covered button to hold the back pocket closed. Ta-dah! I'm excited to carry my new summer bag around Quilt Market this weekend!
To see lots of other summer sewing inspiration, visit these blogs:
May 7: In Color Order
May 9: Sew Crafty Jess
May 11: Stitched in Color & Canoe Ridge Creations
May 14: Don't Call Me Betsy & Sweet Deisel Designs
May 16: Olive and Ollie & I Like Orange, Too!
May 18: Diary of a Quilter & Craft Buds
May 21: Lots of Pink Here
May 23: Love Affair With My Brother & Sukie
May 25: Stitchery Dickory Dock & LR Stitched
May 28: The Busy Bean & Fresh Lemons Quilts
May 30: Random Thoughts Do or Di & Sew Sweetness
And then don't forget to enter your own projects in the contests at Ellison Lane Quilts June 10-17. There will be fabulous prizes! Go here for all the details!
Kelly O.
I love the quilted look! great new take on a fabulous pattern!
Anita
What a cute bag! Great job.
randi--i have to say
Very nice! I love the patchwork!
Linda
That is so cute in the fabrics you chose!
Melissa Corry
Your bag turned out so cute Amy!!! Love it 🙂 Have fun at Market!!
Mev_Lohman
What an adorable bag! I may just have to try it out myself!
chris
I've been wanting to try that bag for a while. I love the quilted details on yours!
Elsa
Oh, I love what you've done with the pattern! I went into my pdf's and found that I have Anna's pattern! I'm going to give it a try! thanks so much for the inspiration!
Jennifer @ Ellison Lane Quilts
Oh it is so cute Amy! I love the quilted patchwork feel and the fabrics are perfect for summer. Thanks SO much for taking part in the inspirational blog hop. Your work is definitely inspiring to me! Have a great weekend. xo
diane
beautiful
Laura
What a fantastic bag. I love everything about it!
Selina Marie
What a great bag! I've been wanting to sew up a new one for myself too, but have trouble finding just the right pattern. This is an awesome one!
iluvmybugs
Cute bag..love your choice of fabrics! TFS<br />~Terry~
Mauri
Love the bag. That would work for so many things.
daniKate designs
Ooh, I love the patchwork! The way you incorporated it into the bag pattern looks great.
Mermaid Sweets
Nicely done, I love this. Great pattern, and love the patchwork and quilting twist.
Katy Cameron
Oh it's fab, it makes me want some Bella even more now!
bethanndodd
Eek! I love it! The simple quilting on the patchwork is so darn cute! I can't help but add one of these to my list 😉 Hope you are enjoying quilt market so far! Smiles~Beth
Jessica Oliveto
These bags are the best! I have one and I love it, I even used Ikea stripes for the body. But I have a hankering to make a patchwork pocket one soon too!
Gwen @ Gwenny Penny
I use my Go Anywhere bag every day. Love it! I love the pieced pocket idea, Amy. Beautiful!
vintage grey
Oh, such a wonderful summer bag!! Love the patchwork!! Have a lovely weekend!! xo Heather
Ramona
Awesome job. The bag looks great. Do love those fabrics.
Heather
Your bag turned out great! The fabrics are really summery!
heartsease54
https://www.fabrics-store.com/ These guys have linen-in all different weights, colors, etc. Most is 59 inches or more wide. They will send a free swatch card that has all of the weights on it too. I'm waiting for mine to come before I order. But go check them out. The linen cotton blend (bleached) is $5.47 per yard!!!!!
Ana
Hola!! me encanta tu blog... me he hecho tu seguidora.<br />yotambien tengo un bloges: tijeras,hilosypinceles<br /><br />Saludos
Blueberry Park
this is beautiful...I have recently done a similar block with my charm pack! https://www.flickr.com/photos/blueberrypark/7217348298/in/photostream <br />This bag is awesome and you are definitely all set for summer!
CathyK
This bag just says summer fun!!! Great job!
kasthurirajam
nice
amandajean
your bag is super duper cute, Amy. it was sooooooooo great to meet you at quilt market. 🙂 i enjoyed reading your posts recapping it. i'm still a bit overwhelmed by all of it, aren't you? but in a good way, of course!
Gayle Himmelwright
I love it! I just did almost the exact same thing last week--same pattern and pieced the front pocket with a charm pack of California Girl. Didn't have enough for the back pocket, so I pieced the handles instead. I should have actually quilted it like you did, though. It looks awesome like that!
Jessica at Me Sew Crazy
I adore this bag! Just gorgeous! I hope you will consider uploading a photo of it into SewSet, a new on-line sewing pattern & tutorial search engine. I would love for others to be able to find it and you when searching!!!<br /><br />Thanks so much for sharing!<br />- Jess<br />SewSet.com<br />MeSewCrazy.com